Two citizens, Lawrence Bonanno and Stuart Laughton, inducted in the Performing Arts Centre Hall of Fame.

By Pepper Parr

May 29, 2015

BURLINGTON, ON

There he was – a politician on a stage – what more could he have wanted?

For reasons he said he never understood Mike Wallace Burlington’s MP said he always gets nervous when he is on the stage at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre.

Brian McCurdy wasn’t nervous but he choked up a bit when he thanked Wallace for the federal grant of $175,000 to cover the cost of a band shell that will be added to the stage set up.

“It will really make a difference when we have orchestras playing “ said McCurdy – “the sound will be projected so much better.
Wallace also took part in recognizing two people who were inducted into the Performing Arts Hall of Fame.

Lawrence Bonanno inducted into the Performing Arts Centre Hall of Fame.

Lawrence Bonanno, a member of Theatre Burlington since 1960, was part of a group that exposed thousands of Burlington citizens to live theatre. Lawrence first became involved in Burlington Little Theatre (now Theatre Burlington) when asked to help with sound recordings for a play. This morphed into directing and producing, building sets, running sound and special effects.

“As one of the recipients of the 2012 Michael Spence Award for Contribution to Community Theatre, Lawrence serves as an inspiration and role model to all. He also formed a technical committee along with Joe Henning and Ron Hebbard who spent countless hours planning and working with the architects to create the Performing Arts Centre.”

Stuart Laughton inducted into the Performing Arts Centre Hall of Fame

Stuart Laughton blew his first note on the trumpet at age nine and fell in love with the instrument. At the age of 19, Laughton was the principle trumpet player at the Hamilton Philharmonic. Stuart was asked to join a new group, the Canadian Brass. He spent just the one year with Canadian Brass and left to attend the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He formed Opening Day Recordings, and released 18 discs of Canadian music, four of these releases were Juno-nominated, plus one Juno win. Stuart has performed as concerto soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Quebec’s Les Violins du Roy, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony and was the principle trumpet for LaScala Opera.

After an absence of 35 year he rejoined Canadian Brass for a short time before founding roots/rock band Porkbelly Futures, that released three CDs of original material.

Leighton and Bonnano  join Gordy Tapp and Rainer Noack   who were inducted in 2012 ans 2013